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For Front Range camping this holiday weekend, get your gear in gear now

Expect a scramble for first-come, first-served spots in and around Boulder County

By Tony KindelspireLongmont Times-Call

Posted:
07/01/2013 09:34:06 PM MDT

Ben Gurski and his wife, Lynette, set up an awning on their camper at St. Vrain State Park in Firestone on Friday. If you want to go camping for the holiday weekend, plan to leave early Wednesday to get a first-come, first-serve space in the mountain, or hope to catch a cancellation at St. Vrain. For more, see page A2.
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Greg Lindstrom
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LONGMONT -- Front Range campgrounds will be packed on the Fourth of July, but experts say spots still can be secured by people who act in time.

"We're asking people to expect all the campgrounds to be full from after work on the third of July, and they'll probably be full until Sunday," said Elsha Kirby, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service's Boulder Ranger District. "The best time to get a campsite would be Wednesday morning."

The northern Front Range has a mixture of first-come, first-served campgrounds and those where at least a percentage of the sites can be reserved. In the Boulder Ranger District, Pawnee Campground at Brainard Lake, and Meeker and Rainbow Lakes campgrounds are all first-come, first-served, Kirby said, while Olive Ridge, Kelly Dahl, Camp Dick and Peaceful Valley are all half and half.

Sites that can be reserved at all of the campgrounds already have been booked for the holiday, Kirby said.

"The last campgrounds to fill up are Meeker and Kelly Dahl," she added.

The Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest land is under a stage-one fire restriction, meaning campfires are allowed only in fee-based campgrounds. Backcountry fires are not permitted, Kirby said, and fireworks are never permitted on national forest land.

Also, she said, Meeker, Camp Dick and Peaceful Valley have had bear activity recently, so campers there are advised to keep food and food-smelling clothes out of their tents and stored either in vehicles or bear-proof containers.

All sites are in the Canyon Lakes Ranger District that can be reserved have been. The district encompasses much of north-central Colorado, according to spokeswoman Reghan Cloudman. First-come, first-served campgrounds in that district are Aspen Glen, Big Bend, Big South, Brown's Park, Dutch George Flats, Kelly Flats, North Fork Poudre, Sleeping Elephant and Tunnel. Most of those are in Poudre Canyon along Colo. Highway 14, while Jack's Gulch and Tom Bennett are both off Colo. 14 on Pingree Park Road. Those two are also first-come, first-served.

Jon Emanuel of Denver sets up his camper for himself and his wife, Penny Province, at St. Vrain State Park in Firestone on Friday. The park s camping sites for the holiday weekend are booked, but some cancellations could open up.
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Greg Lindstrom
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Reservations are taken at two of the four remaining campgrounds, Aspenglen and Moraine Park, though both are sold out this week. Longs Peak and Timber Creek campgrounds -- the latter of which is on the western side of the park -- are both first-come, first-served.

"(Timber Creek) usually is our last campground to fill," Patterson said.

At St. Vrain State Park, all sites have been booked for a couple of months, although there could be a last-minute cancellation, said Linda Richards, an administrative assistant there.

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